Chapter 1124 — I Am the Heavenly Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
The mist about them thickened further, and from it came Shen Mu's voice, mild: "You have never accepted this. You think that anyone at all, sent back to ancient times, could become Heavenly Venerable Mu. But of Heavenly Venerable Mu, through all ages past and present, there is only one—myself, and it can only ever be me! I can let you live, and I can put you to death."
Gongsun Yan's pupils shrank sharply; root after root crept soundlessly into the mist, searching for a trace of Shen Mu.
At the same time, the Yuanmu too gently stretched out its branches into the fog.
"I need to establish my authority—not over you, but over all the Ancient Gods."
Shen Mu's voice came, and Gongsun Yan's eyes lit up; in an instant countless roots and branches lashed out toward the sound!
At that very moment, Earth Mother Yuanjun's heavenly soul collapsed, scattering as black soul-sand in all directions!
From Gongsun Yan's mouth came Earth Mother Yuanjun's shrill and agonized scream, piercing beyond bearing, a cry shot through with panic and the shudder of death.
It was the first time she had met with anything so horrifying.
Her strength now surpassed Shen Mu's by an unknowable margin; with the power she held, crushing him to death would cost her no more than a breath. And yet her life and death lay in Shen Mu's hands!
From the ancient age to this day she had passed through countless calamities and never died. Battle after bloody battle in those ancient times, and she had survived them all; even in the twilight of the Supreme Emperor era, when she was hewn apart by Heavenly Venerable Ling and the others of the Heaven Alliance, she had not perished.
Even when Heavenly Venerable Hao struck with his own hand, she had managed to slip away with her life.
But now she truly felt how close death was to her!
She did not even understand where Shen Mu had laid his hand!
"I have treated myself as an equal ally, joining hands with you Ancient Gods, but you have treated me as anything but an ally."
Shen Mu's tone was indifferent, bleak and somber, as he said: "Using me was one thing—but you had to lay hands on those around me. Earth Mother Yuanjun, your insolence has passed the limits of what I can bear! Today, by your death, I proclaim to all the Ancient Gods: I am an ally, not your beast of burden!"
He was about to annihilate the Earth Mother's earthly soul once and for all when darkness suddenly churned within the mist; at the same moment, the sky blazed with light—light that came from beyond the heavens, piercing even the star chart that shrouded the Yuan World, shining down upon the capital of Jingping!
Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart, and he stayed his hand.
The darkness surging beneath the earth revolved; firelight flashed within it, and a Lava Earth Lord rose slowly, spinning, into the air.
The light in the sky gathered likewise, taking the form of an old man with white brows and white beard who descended from the heavens, came to the capital of Jingping, and entered Shen Mu's dwelling.
Shen Mu greeted them with a bow: "Daoist Brother Earth Lord. Daoist Brother Heaven Lord."
The Lava Earth Lord and the Heaven Lord's avatar hastily returned the courtesy: "Heavenly Venerable Mu."
The Heaven Lord smiled: "We came together because we sensed you borrowing our power to revive Earth Mother Yuanjun, and so we turned our gaze here. We little expected that Earth Mother Yuanjun, in a moment of folly, would provoke Heavenly Venerable Mu. Earth Mother Yuanjun is a mighty life who has lived from the ancient age to this day, upholding the Yuan World and sheltering all living beings—a towering span of billions of years. Her crime does not warrant death."
The Lava Earth Lord said: "The Heavenly Court is mighty; even the Heaven Lord and I can scarcely protect ourselves. If you kill Earth Mother Yuanjun, will you not have lost a comrade of like mind?"